Hogwarts Gakure no Castle!
by Poddyful
Summary: NarutoHP crossover After much thinking, Dumbledore finally decided to hire a group of ninjas to teach DADA! But everything has its dark past... A JTT spinoff, but reading JTT is not required. Explained inside inconsistent major angst warning
1. Chapter 1

Dear readers,

I know I've spent a long time away (and yes, you may kill me at your leisure), and I haven't updated since two hundred years before Christ… and now, I will delay that even further.

First off- the reason I haven't updated for so long is because of school, really. Some uh… stuff came up. But since we're on holidays now… well, no problem :D

Now… The Delay.

I've decided that I'm going to rewrite this whole story. A few months ago, I had no idea what I was doing. Now that I've had time to let everything sink in a bit more, I feel that I cannot possibly continue from where I left off before- too many holes. I've already started editing the first chapter, and will be replacing the chapters all at once; so yes, again. It might take a bit of time.

I'm not sure if it will be a problem for my original readers, because I haven't updated for so long and you've probably forgotten what everything is about. But even if you are an original reader- I ask that you please go back and read the rewrite. I haven't changed the plot; I've merely rewritten the whole thing so that everything is better paced, and you don't read something and then the next chapter you're mightily perplexed about something totally unrelated.

I know a lot of you will be thinking, 'For heaven's sake, it's a STORY. We don't care about how bad it is, we just want an UPDATE."

Well, uh… it's for my sake, alright: )

Thanks for your understanding- I promise to be… quick about it.

Regards,

-Iris


	2. Chapter 2

I've decided, after around half a year of not updating (as typical of me), and after coming back to read some of this, that a lot of changes are necessary. When I first wrote it, the plot never actually went the way I wanted it to- I didn't make the plot; I followed it. And now that I've decided that my grammar- and hopefully my brain- has matured, I'm going to take the step of 'fixing' this.

I feel that it IS necessary to reread my Rewrite- readers: my apologies. I've changed quite a lot of things in here, and while it's probably not all that essential, really, those who follow my story closely will find themselves rather lost.

**The Excuse for My Disappearance**: A bit a trouble at school. The stress piled on and one thing led to another… (No, I didn't murder someone. Wish I did. Massacre! Whee!)(What can I say… Kakashi and I have a lotta things in common :D)

**Disclaimer, which will account for the rest of this story**: I claim no rights to Harry Potter nor Naruto. I belong to me, the plot belongs to my brain. Thank you.

**Notes**: I got the 'Kaka-sen' (Kakashi-sensei) idea from Ueki no Housoko (The Law of Ueki), where Kobayashi-sensei was shortened to 'Koba-sen'. If this is illegal and I have butchered the Japanese language, please inform me in the most painless way. Or, I guess I will be deserving it if the knives are let loose… (Who, let the knives out! Who, who, who who who?)(That's it- no more writing for me at one o'clock in the morning!)

I'm not aware of anyone else using this. If, perchance, someone does happen to spot an originator, please tell me so I can go and collapse on their floor in a twitching mass of rabies, mouth froth and all, and beg for their forgiveness that I've stolen the idea…

Uh: When I first writing this, Deathly Hallows hadn't come out. As such, there will be no mention of anything that happens in DA will happen. Not the DA themselves, not the mirrors, etc.

**Also**: I use Japanese suffixes on the end of names where I feel is appropriate, because I personally think that it shows the relationship between characters quite obviously. If anyone feels that my use of name-suffixes is inaccurate or out of context, please tell me.

**And**: Asuma is still alive. I'm fairly sure that he was still alive when I first started this story, and that isn't going to change.

**Oh yeah, and**: With due warning, with regards to the fic- I will launch straight into the plot. Please, consider yourself warned. :)

**One last thing**: Tonks will appear, and a lot of readers voiced their concern over a mistake that I had originally made in not mentioning that in this fic, Tonks had been forcefully separated from the Black family, even after Andromeda and Ted had been cast out. She never knew her parents. How she grew up… will be revealed in the fic. Muahahaha. Ha.

Prerequisites to reading this story:

Okay, popcorn ready? The coke? The lovely lounge? The nekkid Kakashi plushie? Good- put those aside for the moment.

Hogwarts Gakure no Castle! IS written as a spin-off from Journey Through Time. While JTT isn't epic in length at all, I'll save you the trouble and write a short summary of the things that you might have to watch out for in this story (feel free to read JTT; it's not one that I would recommend, but nevertheless):

-The basic plotline to Journey Through Time (and I know that I'm treading a precarious line by writing both stories at the same time; hopefully I can balance it) is that after Sasuke left Konoha, Sakura and Naruto made a pact- they would both train under Jiraiya and Tsunade, and once they became strong enough, they would leave Konoha and go and find Sasuke. After they had found Sasuke, the three roamed the ninja world as nuke-nin.

The first chapter then goes into the action: Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are being hunted down by Anbu, and are soon cornered in a clearing. After identifying two of the Anbu- Iruka and Kakashi, they were asked to go back to Konoha, where they would be reinstated as Konoha ninjas. After a rather emotional refusal, (a.k.a. dragging sob story), Kakashi- who had developed a mental condition that placed him near the brink of insanity- saw red and attacked his students. Naruto's Red chakra leaked out of his body at the last minute, transporting them back through time to when they were still genin, wherein they still retained their memory of their previous life.

Kakashi, who had been right next to Naruto at the time, and Iruka, who had leapt in horror in front of Kakashi, were both thrown in contact with Kyuubi's chakra and were transported through the time portal as well.

After a discussion, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke decided to forgive Kakashi, and Team Seven was reunited into a team once more.

This story takes place in JTT, and can be shoved into the JTT timeline anywhere, seeing as I haven't actually developed any plot in JTT yet (it's really there to test how well I can write humour, and action. Experimental fic, if you like).

If there are any queries, please feel free to contact me. Otherwise, here's the story!

Hogwarts Gakure no Castle!

Chapter one

The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and there were clouds in the air. Birds chirped, and from a distance, the sight of Jiraiya peeping happily into the girl's onsen and giggling could easily be identified by the occasional shinobi, particularly to the more tactful ones on the roof (ANBU) and the somewhat less tactful, but effective none-the-less (Konohamaru in a box).

It was a typical Konoha day.

"YOU'RE NOT LATE TODAY, KAKASHI!"

**CRASH!**

Genma perked up from the wooden post he had been daydreaming on (stupid guard duty), and straightened his bandana and reflexively chewed on his senbon, looking towards the direction of the Hokage tower, where he could vaguely see a faint outline of something flying through the air.

Or not.

He grinned, and his senbon twitched as he channelled chakra to his ears.

Kakashi shook his head in a dazed fashion before slowly standing up, ignoring the pieces of rubble and left over fish pond.

The fish looked at him hopefully, flapping their tails.

He could never stand eyes like that. Especially with fishes.

He did a few doton, katon and suiton jutsus to regenerate the pond and its inhabitants, but ignored the rest of the damage. With luck, maybe the Hyuugas wouldn't mind a random jounin reducing (unintentionally, of course) their jutsu hardened walls to ashes.

But judging from the Hyuugas charging at him with palm facing towards him and Byakugan activated, Lady Luck was just not on his side today.

He sighed, dusted himself off, and took to the roofs.

--

He peered cautiously into the Hokage's room. He knew he shouldn't have tried to surprise her. It wasn't his fault, really. There was a funeral service near the Memorial Stone, and he wasn't in the mood to deal with gawking people, so for lack of better things to do, he came early.

A pair of cold, emerald eyes glared at him. He grinned sheepishly and invited himself inside via the Kakashi-shaped hole in the wall. Internally, he resignedly calculated the amount of money that would be disappearing fro his next pay check.

"You wanted me, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade nodded, sighing and gesturing at the chair opposite her. Kakashi carefully took his place in front of her desk, watching her shuffling around her desk to make room for her elbows ("I really wasn't expecting you for another hour or so, you bastard"), before he got bored, eyes straying past her shoulder and outside to the Hokage Mountain as he waited for the Godaime to finish.

The Yondaime's face looked cold and serious, but Kakashi knew better. This was carved with the photo Obito had taken when Rin got angry at their jounin-sensei for some reason or the other and kicked him in the family jewels. He had never seen his sensei frozen for such a long time before.

Kakashi snickered slightly. Ah, those were the good old times. He blocked the onslaught of the other memories- the ones that were not so bright- and looked back to meet the gaze of Tsunade.

Tsunade closed her eyes for a second, before opening them again.

"Right. The reason you're in here is because of this," she said as she tossed Kakashi a scroll. Kakashi was slightly puzzled. This was a mission scroll- she could have just had one of the pigeons deliver a note to him saying that he needed to report to the mission bureau or something. If she had to personally give it to him herself, it must be something unusual or dangerous.

Or both.

However, kakashi knew better to question his elders, and, after checking the scroll for hidden jutsus out of habit, opened it.

He scanned through the scroll, eyes narrowing and brows buckling every so often. He looked up at Tsunade, waiting for more information.

"As you can see, this man called 'Dumbledore' has requested ten or so shinobis to go to a place called 'Hogwarts' to teach a subject called 'Defence Against the Dark Arts'."

_Dear Sarutobi,_

Kakashi's eyes hardened. _Not very well informed_.

_It has been a while- I sincerely hope that everything is going well in Konoha. The reason I am writing today, is to ask for a helping hand with regards to the dire situation of young Harry Potter._

"The 'Wizarding World' is under the threat of a dangerous man called 'Voldemort'. It is not a place known to any shinobi, bar Sarutobi-sensei, obviously."

_The Dark has risen, and I have come to the conclusion that yes, indeed- we will need to learn how to fight to win in the unstoppable war that is threatening to occur just over the horizon. I now regret not taking your advice so many years ago, my friend- but I am asking now. Sarutobi- I am willing to pay any amount for a temporary exchange program to be made between Konoha and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The students of this school will benefit from your ninjas, and, if Merlin allows- your ninja to benefit from learning magic. _

"This is a school, then?" Kakashi asked.

Tsunade waved a hand, exhaling a breath long due. "I guess. But someone of your calibre, Hatake, would know why I particularly summoned you here."

Kakashi looked her in the eye, a sharp glint flashing through his lone grey eyes.

"You want me to test the waters."

Tsunade looked at him briefly, before sighing and nodding, leaning back in her chair. "It is obviously not from any place that we know. I would send someone else, but I think you would be perfectly fine in taking care of yourself. If you aren't busy now, I would like this done as soon as possible."

Kakashi stood up. "How long would this take?"

Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "As long as you need."

Kakashi thought carefully, then shrugged again nonchalantly, "I'll take it."

Tsunade looked down at the scroll again. "It also states that if we want, an exchange could be arranged and they could send a few 'wizards' over to teach us 'magic'."

Kakashi's face looked every bit the shinobi that he was- blank and unwavering- as he casually responded, "That would be up to you, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade brought her threaded fingers up in front of her face. "No, that would up to you. However, I want to be informed of your decision as soon as you come back."

Kakashi nodded. "Of course."

Tsunade leaned forward and beckoned towards Kakashi, who complied by standing up. She placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, a soft, hovering green light.

A tracking jutsu, Kakashi noted with interest. It was probably very complex, and Kakashi didn't activate his Sharingan to analyse it in case there was any clashing between the two chakra, and he actually kind of liked his right arm.

Jiraiya had once used something like that though, on Naruto. He didn't see it clearly, but it was all seals and precise chakra control so the chakra wouldn't accidentally slip into one of the main arteries and cause some drastic reaction. Not that it would have done much- it was Naruto, after all.

Kakashi picked up the scroll.

_I have attached the portkey in the form of the paper clip. It will activate as soon as it is touched, and the effect will continue to last for twenty four hours exactly. Thank you, and Good Luck._

_Regards,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"A portkey?" Kakashi said, frowning at Tsunade, who nodded. Kakashi grimaced inwardly- _I think I'm going to be her guinea pig again..._

His hands strayed to his weapons pouch before carefully prodding the paperclip, holding it away at arms length cautiously, before the paperclip glowed a rich blue, and, after feeling a violent tug somewhere along his spine, Kakashi was pulled out of the room.

Kotetsu peeled his face off the wall, an excited expression on his red-cheeked face.

"Ooh…should we wait until Kakashi-senpai gets back, or…?"

His partner (in-crime) nodded, a cheeky smile adorning his face. _Finally_, some adventure! After spending years standing guard outside Hokage-sama's office doing jobs that are normally given to genin, they would get a break!

"She'll be out of the room in twelve minutes. Our perfect chance."

They grinned in unison.

Kakashi was currently spinning in a hollow kunai handle. The ones that the little ones use.

At least, that's what it felt like. He had once read a book translated into Japanese about a chocolate factory. One of the contestants, who was a fat as hell (a relative of Chouza-san's, maybe), had fallen into a chocolate lake and got sucked up a small tube.

This must be what he had felt like.

He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't- it was similar to when he tried to do the Hiraishin, and though he did manage to somehow end up at the other side of the training ground at a speed faster than usual, he crashed head first into a tree (not that he would ever admit it), and had a delayed concussion on the mission later that day.

He had studied the hand seals for a while, along with some others, before he found out that the boar seal, along with an A-rank jutsu amount of chakra, would open up a small chakra chamber somewhere near the ribs (it seems that the body does this automatically, storing chakra), thus expending more chakra and making the jutsu more powerful (which meant that he hadn't done the Hiraishin after all, but still, finding out a technique like that was rather impressive).

**BANG**

Kakashi felt himself drop, and, with practised eased, did a somersault in the air and used the rush of wind to determine where the floor is.

While waiting for the few seconds for his dizziness to subside so he could open his eyes without stumbling, he strained his remaining senses for any signs of danger.

Firstly- there was no sound of breathing. Kakashi himself had stopped inhaling any air, wary of poisonous gas and the likes. No signs of chakra signatures in the room, either, which could go either way. His opponent might either be very weak or very strong.

Secondly- he was on stone ground, no obvious traps around.

He opened his eye cautiously.

He was in a room with no corners. It was filled with many things, though everything was neat and well organised. Some object he had no idea of, and there was a strange stone like basin at the other side of the room, which sparked his curiosity. They say that curiosity killed the cat- _but what the hell; I'm not a cat_.

His attention was drawn to a soft cry, however, and as he looked over to where the cry had originated from, his eyes were suddenly attacked by the brightness and suddenness of the flames.

He cursed and tired to blink it away. After a few seconds, the fire kindled away to nothing, and a pile of ashes remained.

Kakashi's interest was perked again. This must be a phoenix, then- if the little grey wrinkly thing that wriggled up from the ashes was any indication.

If the person named Dumbledore was this bird's owner, then everything should be ok. Phoenixes were trust-worthy beings, more so than any other in the world.

_Tap tap tap _

The jounin's ears perked up. Someone was coming- and indeed, the door opened, and an old man came in.

Kakashi's first thought, was that he looked like Jiraiya.

He wondered if he was as perverted as Jiraiya too.

The ninja was startled when the man chuckled, though he didn't show it. _What is he laughing at?_ He stood up slowly and waited for the old man to speak, a hand discreetly inching towards his weapon pouch. He was rather wary despite the pet Phoenix; it was pure instinct; and old habits died hard.

The man radiated off a rather normal aura, although it felt like it was suppressed. The nature of it was clearish, and gave Kakashi a sense of safety, as though the man in front of him would never let him get harmed.

"I am Dumbledore Albus. You are in my office in Hogwarts," Dumbledore started in Japanese. Kakashi nodded.

"_Hatake Kakashi, Konohagakure no jounin,_" the jounin responded. Dumbledore smiled, as though he already knew.

"Did the Hokage send you here to have a look around?" he asked. Kakashi nodded slowly- he didn't know why, but even with the aura of security, there was too much mystery to this man; so much that Kakashi couldn't help but distrust him slightly.

Could this person read minds? Moreover, what the hell was this strange language that he was speaking? And how could he understand him?

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled merrily as he smiled.

"Magic," he said simply. "Would you like a tour of Hogwarts?" At Kakashi's sharp nod, he nodded, "Now, if you would just follow me…"

The older man (and considerably taller, a height of which even Kakashi was impressed with) turned around and lead Kakashi out of his office and down the guarding gargoyles outside.

Dumbledore broke the silence as they stood on the spiralling platform down to the rest of the castle. "And how is my dear friend Sarutobi going?"

Kakashi's eyes flashed slightly, but it may have been a trick of the light. "I'm sorry to inform you, but Sandaime-sama had passed away some years ago."

Dumbledore paused for a second, before nodding grimly. Kakashi studied his facial expressions carefully, and found that there was none- no loss in composure, only a sad twinkle to his eyes. He wasn't even sure why the old man didn't seem to harbour any shock at his words, and filed the thought away for later use. Dumbledore was certainly no ordinary man.

"I see… war, I am presuming?"

Kakashi, against his better judgement, decided to clarify. "There was an invasion. The village of Sand and the village of Sound banded together during a chuunin exam, led by Orochimaru, who Sandaime-sama lost his life fighting against." That was enough details; he would let Dumbledore draw his own conclusions on that.

"Orochimaru, huh…?" Dumbledore sighed softly. Kakashi sent him a sideways glance. He would find out about this man's relationship with Konoha and Sandaime-sama later. It appeared that the man wanted to ask another question.

"And who would be the Godaime?"

Kakashi briefly entertained the thought that he could just ignore the question, but that was somewhat disrespectful. He pursed his lips. "Godaime-sama goes by the name of Tsunade, the Slug Princess."

A small, wistful smile appeared on Dumbledore's face. "Tsunade-hime, eh…?"

Yep. Definitely research later.

Dumbledore seemed to have exhausted his questions, for he turned to the hall and gestured widely. "Hogwarts has many halls, you can get to various places mainly via stairways and doors, among other things. There's just the little twist that they have a tendency to…ah, here we go. Watch your step then, Kakashi-kun."

Kakashi briefly glanced at the Headmaster as he hopped on half a staircase, which slowly moved upwards to join another one, a tad curious and cautious about the familiar addressing.

Then he dismissed it as an old people's thing.

He turned his attention back to where he was discreetly glancing at before- the paintings. He knew that this was a foreign place that obvious didn't use chakra- for while Dumbledore-san did hold a fair amount of what he supposed he could call chakra, everything else seemed to be...different.

Dumbledore answered his unasked question.

"While shinobi use 'chakra', here, we use 'magic', usually channelled through what we call 'wands'."

Dumbledore reached inside his pocket. Kakashi tensed, relaxing only slightly when he saw that the old man had taken out a peculiarly shaped stick. Dumbledore raised it into the air, carefully pointing it the opposite direction from Kakashi so as to not alarm him, and, with a soft mutter of 'avis', summoned little fluttering birds out of it.

Kakashi stared (somehow still managing to look indifferent). He reached out a hand to touch the birds, but as soon as his fingertips reached one, it disappeared.

Dumbledore led him past some huge hourglasses imbedded in walls, with emeralds, rubies, sapphires and another he couldn't identify. Amber, he supposed.

The Headmaster saw him looking, and stopped. "These are the points for the houses. All Hogwarts students are sorted into four houses- from left to right: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

Kakashi nodded, giving one more glance to the pretty jewels, before reverting his attention to the front again.

The Jiraiya-sama look-alike (Maybe they were brothers. Or Dumbledore was Jiraiya's father. Oh _Gawd_) opened a large set of doors, and Kakashi looked at the hall that could possibly fit half the Uchiha compound in it. There was a large table at the front, but the rest of the place was empty. He raised an eyebrow at the apparently ceilinglessness.

"It's enchanted so it would look like different weathers," Dumbledore explained. "I can give you some literature to read up on our school later, if you're up to it."

Kakashi nodded. This was getting interesting.

The Hokage robes whipped around the corner.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

"Yosh! Let's go!" Kotetsu whispered. Izumo nodded, and, checking the coast once more, scurried into the Hokage's office quickly and closed the door.

They both breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Right, Izumo, here's Hokage-sama's tracker. Kakashi-senpai is at…at…uh…"

"At what?"

"Ho-gu-wo-o-tsu. Hogwarts," Kotetsu spelled out.

"...Anyway- we don't have much time. Gimme that," Izumo whispered. Kotetsu handed him the tracker. The other chuunin closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again and forming a few hand seals.

They watched the tracker glow for a few seconds, before Izumo nodded, "Stable. It will activate with the next three bursts of chakra."

Kotetsu nodded, fervently looking towards the door. What was that sound…?

"Shit!" he swore out loud when the door opened. Genma blinked, then hurried in, closing the door louder than the pair would have liked through his haste, and grinned.

"Knew you two were up to no good! Lemme join in? Raidou and Tatami are on a mission and I'm bored…"

Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other, shifting uncomfortably. "…Of course, senpai" Kotetsu finally said.

Izumo winced, "Grab onto this tracker. Or Kotetsu. Or me. And don't let go. This will take us to where Kakashi-senpai is."

"Why did you automatically assume that I knew about Kakashi?" Genma asked slyly, the senbon in his mouth waggling up and down.

"Well, you do now. Besides, you don't care even if it isn't about Kakashi, you'd come regardless," Izumo replied without looking at him.

Genma laughed. "True; you know me all too well, Izu-chan."

Izumo breathed in for a while, feeling his chakra slowly coming back. "Okay, On the count of three."

"One," Izumo injected a bit of chakra into the tracker.

"Two," Genma placed his hand lightly on Kotetsu's shoulder, the latter of whom shifted uncomfortably.

"Three."

"What are you doing?" a familiar masculine voice came from behind them as a heavy hand dropped onto Izumo's shoulder. Izumo barely had time to don a look of guilt and horror as Ibiki's eyes widened and the office jerked out of view.

"Ow…"

"Ittai!"

"Who groped me?"

"Ugh!"

Genma's hand went to his aching backside as he landed on hard concrete. That had hurt. "No one groped you, Izumo."

"Ittai…" Kotetsu whined again. Ibiki sighed and stood up, brushing himself off…before turning his gaze on them.

"What the hell were you guys doing?"

Izumo started stuttering incomprehensible words out, while Kotetsu looked at his toes and counted them again, and again, and again, and again…and Genma just grinned.

"We're here to look for Kakashi. Care to join us?" Genma chirped jovially, walking over to sling an arm around Ibiki. If it had been anyone else, they would have found themselves very much locked up in the next room, a few sharp attacks to their psyche damaging them forever before they could say, "My bad". However, Genma was not only a team mate on every other occasion, but also a drinking and gambling buddy. As such, he would be civil.

Not that he never got the urge to do it, of course.

Ibiki raised an eyebrow, piecing together the words that Genma said to the information he'd been eavesdropping on when Kakashi had crawled back from being violently kicked out of Hokage-sama's office, literally.

Kotetsu spoke up, "So…now what?"

They appeared to be in some kind of stone passageway with numerous floating torches and randomly disappearing doors. Izumo and Kotetsu openly gaped, while Genma felt his blood course him in excitement. That is SO _COOL_!

"So… this must be Hogwarts…" Kotetsu said awkwardly. Izumo stayed silent while Ibiki snorted. It might be _cool_, but the air felt heavy, laden with something that felt like it could be chakra, but not quite. Almost oppressive in its power, but cautiously welcoming at the same time.

"Are you guys the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers?" a voice piped up from behind them. The shinobi turned around to face the new voices. There stood three short children, all carrying piles of books, staring at them with varying degrees of open curiosity and wariness.

They stared at each other for a few minutes.

"Uhhh…well, are you?" Ron asked. He wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing. Plus, they were do doing stuff for the Order in the castle, and they weren't told that they would meet strange new wizards, so they were probably the new teachers they heard about while eavesdropping at the last Order meeting. If Hermione could read his thoughts right at that moment, she would have groaned in frustration at the amount of Ron-logic she saw in that thought.

The group suddenly felt an onslaught of the chakra-like feel suddenly felt much stronger, and the foreign group felt a distinct surge of power rush through their veins. Warm, and also clashing with their chakra. Ibiki fought violently against it, and Genma kept a straight face at the inner turmoil. Izumo and Kotetsu were having a bit of trouble, so much so that Hermione had quickly dumped her pile of book atop Harry's, and rushed to their sides, wondering what she could do.

It was illogical and rather brash, of course, but even though Hermione prided herself on being the most calm-headed out of anyone, the motherly instincts inside her roared something fierce, and she cautiously walked up to the foreigners.

"Are you two alright?" She asked Kotetsu and Izumo, figuring that the other two seemed to be okay, flipping through her brain for anything that she read on situations like this. The four ninjas were shocked- they understood what she was saying, and yet it didn't sound like a very familiar language.

_That wasn't Japanese… so what is this?_

Hermione, after a thorough scan of their clothes, the foreign look, and the different language that she had heard before they rounded the corner, quickly surmised that even if they weren't the new teachers, they were still foreigners- and since Hogwarts itself didn't seem to be having much anger towards them, apart from the little show just then, they were no danger.

Hermione gently touched the one with the spiky hair in the arm, who stiffened, clutching his rather muscly biceps. Hermione swallowed a gulp and rolled up his sleeves (Ron and Harry looked at each other, slightly puzzled and quite a lot perplexed), where she touched it with her wand and muttered something unintelligible, before pronouncing herself satisfied.

"Not to worry- the magic of this school was just trying to determine your blood. If you felt a warm rush, it is more than likely due to the effects of the magic of the school configuring your magic to be compatible with the school's. So don't worry; you should be fine," the girl babbled, spewing up passages from, 'Hogwarts, a History'.

Izumo nodded dazedly.

"So… are you our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers?" asked Ron, who was never one to give up without just reason, and sometimes not even then.

"Um… not quite," Izumo said, wincing slightly. Ibiki considered the plausibility of taking up the art of teaching , before waving the thought away. The sheer amount of incredulity he can almost imagine on Anko's face when she gets wind of it was enough to put him off permanently. Or maybe it was reason for him to actually _do_ it.

It was worth thinking about.

"Do you have any subjects here that relate to torture and interrogation of any kind?" he asked. Izumo paled, while Ron frowned.

"Well, the Headmaster does most of the interrogating here, and the Heads of Houses. Torture-wise… well, Trelawney's classes are torture enough, but _Snape_- yeah yeah whatever Herms, _Professor_ Snape- his potion classes- URGH!" he rambled.

Hermione made a URGH-STUPID-RON face, while Harry stood at the side, looking rather perplexed at the events that was occurring and trying to balance the double pile of books without crashing into someone.

Genma raised his eyebrows, amused. "Torturing with Liquids now, huh?"

Ibiki curled his lips, but before he could say anything, Genma interrupted and waved him off; "Yeah yeah, I know. It's called poisons, not Liquids."

Liquid was the unofficial code name for poison. Most of the Jounin in the village would recognise the term, but Ibiki didn't feel that 'Liquids' gave off quite the direct impression he wanted. Too mysterious, although that was a good strategy when torturing someone, confusing them with random attacks were ever more fun.

"So… what's your business here?" Hermione asked, retreating back to the safe confines of the shadow behind Ron. Izumo decided to speak up before Genma.

"Uh… have you seen a man with spiky grey hair, a face mask that covers his mouth and half his face, of average height around here?"

Kakashi was still looking around in slight awe and curiosity. The silver-haired jounin was never one to have to use much imagination, especially evident in story-telling, but this place didn't even _need_ imagination.

Everything was so strange, that it took at least half his 27 year old brain to try and process it all.

Ah- here was a broken staircase. _**Jump**_

"I see that I have made the right choice in hiring ninjas. I spent at least a week trying to remember all the secret passageways and door and memorising them all and finding patterns when I was first here- but it seems that you have that down pat already," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

Kakashi allowed himself a small diplomatic smile, and promptly ducked a second before the fire that the suit-of-armours were breathing out singed his hair. His beautiful silver hair.

However, his little action made him just half a second slower, and the silver curse that streaked past him barely missed his ear. From what Kakashi could tell, it was kind of like a silvery, ghostly deer of some sort.

Kakashi decided that it was a good thing that he was a ninja. "What was that, Dumbledore-san?" he asked. Dumbledore seemed to have an infinite amount of patience, for he had to have asked that question as least twenty times, and he answered every single one of them with a smile.

However, Dumbledore's smile seemed to have slipped just a little, and the twinkles in his eyes were less pronounced. There was a slight frown on his face, invisible to all those except for ninjas.

"Kakashi-kun, were you the only person who came, or did Godaime-sama send more people?"

Kakashi frowned slightly as well. "Not that I'm aware of, Dumbledore-san. However…"

Dumbledore seemed to understand his hesitancy-after all, everyone needs their privacy, and he understood that he wasn't privy to some information (not that that would stop him from getting it, of course)- and nodded. "In any case, there seems to be some strangely dressed people down on the third corridor, and they have alarmed three of my students."

Kakashi's lips parted slightly. Enemies? "Would you like me to…?"

Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Let's observe the situation first."

Kakashi nodded. However, he turned to look at the older man, a semblance of slight discomfort on his face. "We shouldn't waste time. I mean no offence, but-"

"If you would prefer a faster method of travelling, I would like to ask that I come with you. I am still rather strong, at this age," Dumbledore said, a little bit of his twinkle returning.

Kakashi still hesitated for a second, before grabbing Dumbledore's arm and Shunshin-ing out of sight.

--

After a few seconds, they arrived at one of the corners of the third corridor. Kakashi pulled Dumbledore against the wall, before holding out his hand slightly so that the metal band on his gloves caught the reflection of the people around the corner.

His eyes bulged and his eyebrows creased before he promptly burst out into sight, skidding neatly in front of them. Kotetsu wrinkled his nose at the smell of burnt rubber.

"Genma, Ibiki, Hagane, Kamizuki," he greeted warily, in a suitably suspicious tone. Did something happen back at Konoha that he needed to know about? Did something happen to his team?

Genma grinned. "Ya, 'Kashi! We've found you at last"

Izumo grimaced and sweatdropped. "Kakashi-senpai," he greeted quickly, bowing.

"Kakashi-senpai."

"Hatake."

The golden trio looked at each other uncomfortably. Where was Professor Dumbledore? They hoped that Harry's patronus that he used as an Order signal had worked.

As if out of cue, the Headmaster stepped out from behind the wall and over to the trio. Kakashi quickly introduced the other four.

"Dumbledore-san- Kotetsu, Izumo, Genma, Ibiki. This is Dumbledore-san. Now…" his face developed a very dangerous smile, "…Care to explain yourselves?"

Izumo's eyes found the stone walls very interesting indeed, and Kotetsu eyed his partner every once in a while. Genma grinned again, and Ibiki stared impassively back.

Kakashi was bemused. "Did Tsunade-sama send you?"

They all shook their heads.

"…"

"So what are you lot doing here… never mind," Kakashi grimaced, torn between amusement and exasperation, "I don't think I want to know. Who are…?" he gestured vaguely at Harry, Hermione and Ron.

Hermione blinked at the nod from the Headmaster, before speaking up.

"I am Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and this is Ron Weasley. We're Hogwarts students. And uh, you must be our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher?"

Kakashi nodded; "Kakashi Hatake."

"A pleasure to meet you, Professor Hatake," Hermione said, smiling brightly. This man seemed rather interesting. Actually, Hermione deduced, he seemed very mysterious. Grey hair and still looking so young? She'd have to ask him about that sometime.

Dumbledore spoke up, smiling lightly. "Will your colleagues be a part of the exchange program, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi paused to think. Will these four be a part of group coming to Hogwarts? _Well,_ he thought dryly. _It's not a very hard decision._

"I'm afraid not, Dumbledore-san," he replied, ignoring the overly-dramatic cries coming from Genma, while the other three pretended that they didn't know him, opting to look questioningly at Kakashi for answers.

"Kakashi! I'm appalled! I'm not a part of your plans?" Genma was alternating between pitiful whines and sniffs. Kakashi gingerly tried to pry the man off his arm, avoiding the fountain of tears cascading down his cheeks.

"No, you aren't."

A fresh wail. A violent hit on the head.

Genma loosened his grip on Kakashi's sleeve slowly, and asked the dreaded question. "So… who are…?"

Kakashi sighed, deciding that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. He had been thinking while Dumbledore was taking him on his tour of the school, and, being practised in the art of planning-as-the-mission-happens, it wasn't too hard for him to formulate what he had to.

"I want to enter the Hogwarts students in for the chuunin exams. We have thirty-two and a half weeks before the chuunin exams. I was thinking…" Kakashi paused, glancing briefly at Dumbledore, before deciding.

"The people involved will be the rookie twelve and their respective jounin sensei. In the first week, Team Kakashi will be taking the classes. Students will be learning the basics. In the second week, Team Kurenai will be teaching- third week will rotate to Team Asuma, and fourth week Team Gai. Each team will rotate every week, one week each. On the thirteenth week, we'll have covered the basics and will split the classes up into advanced and normal classes, the advanced class focusing on the different aspects of being a ninja. A two week break on December the eighteenth, where another program will be set up at school for those who want or need extra training. The first of January will be the start of classes again, and on the twentieth week, the students will be tested for elemental affiliation. Students who don't wish to advance any further may drop out. Eight weeks after that, the teams for the chuunin exams will be chosen, and the chuunin exam… will occur mid-April," Kakashi thought up from the top of his head.

It was a good enough base plan. Any deviations from that should not affect any aspects of the plan in any major way.

Ibiki contemplated the whole thing silently. It will be Konoha's major project of the year. It will be very costly, and very risky. Konoha's mission rates will be down quite a bit, and the protection in the village will be lowered, so the Konoha will have to send for help from Suna, their most closely and loyal ally. The mission will be exposing, for the first time in quite a long while, the world of the Hidden Villages to the Outside. Konoha did have many skilled ninjas, to be sure, but the disappearance of a lot of the top (and most requested) ones will be quite significant.

T_he Anbu are going to get busy this year_, he mused. _And rich. Damn them._

Harry and Ron were interested, but winced at the number of double, even triple DADA lessons this plan posed. They sounded like they knew what they were doing, though. It was kind of absurd- they were going to become ninjas! But Dumbledore had told them that it was a necessary step to take in order to be able to defeat Voldemort…

Hermione, having been silent for a while and bursting with questions, gathered some courage and asked, "How old are the rookies?"

Kakashi looked over at her lazily. "The rookie twelve are your age, and the rest are adults."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully, chewing on her bottom lip. "So will they be attending lessons? Or will they just be teaching?"

Kakashi thought quickly. He had totally missed that aspect- the shinobi were supposed to be learning magic as well. Not everyone was going to be teaching at once, either.

"Yes, they will. When one group is teaching for a week, the rest will be taking classes with their assigned Houses."

Seeing Dumbledore's gaze, Kakashi remembered. "The exchange students from Hogwarts will be determined after I assess their abilities."

Dumbledore nodded, and Kotetsu and Izumo stared in inconspicuous awe. This was Hatake Kakashi, their old Taichou when they were all in Anbu together once upon a time. And he was still the genius that he ever was.

Kakashi's grey eyes were steel as he stared squarely into Dumbledore's bemused ones. "However, please understand, Dumbledore-san, that there is a high percentage of danger involved by sending people who are barely ninjas to a ninja village. **Are you willing to take the risk**?"

Dumbledore looked at the young man in front of him. He had proved himself quite capable of adapting to his surroundings, and he had planned a whole year's worth of teaching plans in such a short time- and of course, he knew the village. He knew what shinobi were capable of, and he had witnessed what they can do first-hand. He was also lucky in that this year, the chuunin exams, as Kakashi had told him earlier, were going to be held in Konoha again.

He looked serenely into Kakashi's hard gaze. "I am willing to risk it, Kakashi-kun." At Kakashi's nod, Dumbledore decided that that was enough for the day.

"Thank you for today."

Kakashi nodded, brushing off Genma's cries of wanting to explore the rest of the castle, and bowed. "Thank you for your time today as well, Dumbledore-san. "

His job was finished here. He would now go back and report to Tsunade, and she will determine the rest from there. Kakashi, for his part, thought the job very interesting, and beneficial to both sides- but he wasn't one to compromise adventure for professionalism.

He turned to the trio, who were standing there quietly. "It has been a pleasure to meet you today, and I will see you in three days on platform nine-and-three-quarters."

They nodded and smiled back at him. This man was going to be their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and he seemed like a trustworthy man- to some extent; they didn't know him fully, but already they could tell that this was going to be an interesting year. The speech about danger earlier didn't faze them at all- Harry was more than used to danger, and Ron and Hermione were loyal enough to support time until the end of the earth.

Kakashi held out his hand, the paperclip lying innocently on his palm. "You lot know the drill," he intoned. "Touch the paperclip."

Genma pouted, but complied. He would talk to Kakashi later- he wanted to come, damnit! Maybe after a few spars and a few drinks…

With a glow, the portkey activated and the quintet disappeared.

Dumbledore smiled at his students, who were still staring at the space that had been occupied not two seconds ago. "Now, hurry along. It's almost dinner-time, and I'm sure that Molly would have a delicious meal prepared for everyone."

He watched the three hurry off, discussing what had just happened in muffled whispered, before sighing and turning back to go to his office.

There will be danger, Dumbledore certainly knew that.

After all, it wasn't all that long ago when Dumbledore was a shinobi himself.

Naruto was especially happy today. They- that is to say, Team Kakashi, were going to a foreign country that was not on their map for a long term mission. They had wondered about it beforehand- this event had not occurred the previous time, but they shrugged it off as a result of them being obviously of a much higher standard then last time.

"Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Kaka-sen, ramen?" he chirped. Sakura sighed but smiled, and Sasuke grunted. He could never deny Naruto anything when he was so happy; and it wasn't like he would go anywhere else. Kakashi, though, shook his head and smiled; "I'll meet you there later, maybe."

Naruto beamed. "YOSH! Let's go!"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the blonde's enthusiasm. He was glad that he was happy- and oddly grateful that they had decided to forgive him for his attempted assassination on them, however screwed up his head was at the time.

He walked slowly towards the Hokage tower. He had sent a request to Tsunade about the shinobi that was going to replace Kurenai in week thirteen, when she will be taking advanced classes and teaching genjutsu, instead of her original permanent position of teaching the year threes and under. He hoped to death that it was someone competent.

Suddenly, he sensed a small presence flying towards him in the sky, and he looked up out of habit- there was always the possibility that any shinobi was summoned for something important. It could be an attack on the village, or someone had accidentally set their house on fire, or that there was an important mission and any available jounin were to make their way down to the mission desk and collect it.

Or it could be that the Hokage was bored, and the two chuunin serving her had escaped, or was currently doing something else, and she wanted gambling partners. Three calls from the eagle, together with a looping flying pattern and a blue ribbon on the left claw was what signified any available jounin to head over to the room down the hall of the Hokage's office, where they would be forced down, and probably lose their whole pay check for their next mission if Raidou is playing. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, and all the jounin in the village usually made themselves as busy as possible when they see a bird flying in the sky.

What it really was, when Kakashi identified it three seconds later as it landed in his shock of grey hair, was a medium sized barn owl carrying four envelopes. Kakashi looked up and saw a talon dangling in front of his face, expertly waving around the thick packages with impatience.

It was probably tired, poor thing.

Kakashi untied the envelopes from the owl and put it in his jacket's scroll pockets after a glance. They were separately addressed to all four members of Team Kakashi, so he guessed what they were probably about and who they were from.

After all, it wasn't every day that an owl appears in Konoha bearing letters. Konoha tended to gravitate more towards the eagle kind of birds for postage; not as smart, but had a better sense of survival. They were also more efficient and probably faster. Kakashi had never used owls before, but he wasn't sure that their survival instincts were all that great, as were indicated by its next actions.

It began to nip at his fingers and ears, and he frowned, wondering what it wanted. Probably something in return for its delivery.

"Sorry, little guy," Kakashi murmured, stroking the bird gently on the head, "I haven't got anything for you."

The owl hooted indignantly, pecking insistently at his jacket. Kakashi wondered what was in his pocket to warrant such a reaction.

"Did you want to read my copy of Icha Icha?" Kakashi asked, nudging the bird lightly with a knuckle. It hooted, and Kakashi took that for a yes. He gingerly took out the little orange book and flipped it to a random page, showing the bird the contents.

A second later, the owl screeched and seemed to change colour, and quickly took off with a start. Kakashi rubbed his head where the owl had almost dug its talons in.

He sighed. _No appreciation for great literature._

--

Kakashi walked through the doors of the Hokage tower- he was in no hurry, after all, and it gave him more time to think. He was already two hours late for his appointment anyway; another five minutes won't make that much of a difference. He hefted the Icha Icha in his hands and continued to saunter over towards the end of the hall.

He vaguely greeted Shizune, who was on a rare break from working at the hospital. _Shizune would make a good teacher for the younger ones. _

His appearance in the Hokage Tower wasn't so strange, but a lot of people stopped in their way to bow to him, or greet him. None tried to engage him in conversation, and he absently greeted them back with a vague smile or a wave of the hand.

Even though he had dimmed in the spotlight for a while now, he was still widely known as a genius, and was recognised as a seasoned shinobi that had served the village well, and one of those who had come out of Anbu alive- he was a widely respected man, however much he didn't like it.

Of course, he was also the prized student of the Yondaime Hokage, which raised him even higher in the opinions of many. He didn't let himself dwell on the other side of the story- his father…

He shook his head and flipped a page.

As he drew nearer to the Hokage's office, his ears could distinctly make out sounds of shouting and very, very familiar voices.

Kakashi stepped sideways and watched, bemused, at the familiar ninja flying through the air beside him, followed by a large trail of dust and what probably used to be the Hokage office's wall.

"Genma," Kakashi greeted, wondering if he should offer a hand up. Genma sat up from the rubble, rubbing his head and wrinkling his nose, sniffing.

"Ittai… ah! Kakashi!" he exclaimed, immediately latching on to the jounin's arm. Kakashi looked at him, before turning his gaze towards the remains of the wall and into the Hokage's office, where he dragged Genma into, warily eyeing the rest of the occupants.

"Hokage-sama, Shizune-san, Raidou," he greeted, shaking Genma off to his usual partner with a flick of his arm. Shizune and Raidou greeted him back, and Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"I read your report," she said, tapping a piece of paper in front of her.

Kakashi nodded.

"Your request has been processed," Tsunade announced. "The replacement, depending on her timetable, will be permitted to go in the requested week."

Kakashi nodded. He would probably know who it is later.

"Now…" Tsunade looked at Kakashi with a weary expression. "These three want to negotiate with you."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows as Kotetsu and Izumo sneaked into the room sheepishly, from where they were hiding behind the door.

"Three?"

Genma appeared between the two chuunin, slinging an arm on each shoulder. "Three," he said, grinning.

The silver-haired jounin stood, waiting.

"So… Kakashi…" Genma started. Izumo and Kotetsu stayed silent and small in the background.

Kakashi grunted his reply.

"We were all wondering… if we could follow you to the castle, as a mission or not?"

Kakashi paused, blinking. "You want to go to the castle for an extensive holiday," he said finally.

Genma laughed. "Yup- very astute. So may we?"

Kakashi looked sideways at Tsunade and raised an eyebrow. Tsunade didn't bat an eyelash. "It's your choice. You can decide if they're going to disrupt the mission or not. They've all applied for long service leave already, so I have nothing to do with it."

Kakashi looked back at Genma, who shot a shit-eating grin back. He was careful to choose his words, and hesitated a long while.

Eventually, after weighing the pros and cons and whatever in between, he said carefully, "They will be allowed to accompany us on this mission, provided they don't hinder our progress in any way."

"You sound like an old man, 'Kashi! Just say yes already!" Genma said, grinning and waggling an eyebrow.

The silver-haired jounin ignored him and nodded to Tsunade. He really hoped that he didn't make a wrong decision.

Well, they did need someone to lighten up the mood and do the cards every Friday.

"Now that that's done, Hatake- your mission debrief was too general. I want details," Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair and looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi reviewed in his head his plan, and shrugged.

"My plan is to use the rookie twelve, all of the jounin-sensei, and some other jounin for backup if necessary. Team Seven and I will come in the first week, Team Eight will follow in the week after, along with Kurenai. Team Ten and Asuma will be coming in on the third week, and Team Gai will come in last. However, Gai will remain in Konoha until week seven, when he will be teaching taijutsu to the more advanced students. Week seven will be the week when we've covered the basics for a while, and go into more specific classes."

Kakashi paused, thinking.

"The shinobi will be training the Hogwarts students through tutoring spars, both individual and in three-man teams, which will be decided in the second week. All jounin and above will be making the class plans. Kurenai and Asuma will be taking third years and below, while I, along with the rookie twelve, and Gai when he comes, will be taking the upper grades. Each team will be taking a full week of classes for one week each, and then rotating in the order that they came in."

"Another jounin will be coming in the seventh week, replacing Kurenai, who will be leaving the permanent teaching spot to teach Advanced Genjutsu classes. Also in the seventh week will be Asuma, who will take a week's worth of senior classes to determine the students who have potential of an elemental affiliation. In week eight, some of the shinobi will be paired off to take the class of their own affiliation."

"With regards to medical ninjas, I will be taking note of potential students. Haruno Sakura from Team Seven and Hyuuga Hinata from Team Eight will be taking the advanced classes for it," Kakashi said finally, "…and after that will be the time where I will nominate the students who are ready for the chuunin exams."

Genma whistled. "That's tough. Barely a ninja for three quarters of a year and then making them take the chuunin exams?"

Kakashi's smile sent chills up the spines of all that were present. "Whoever said that this will be easy?"

Kakashi stood silently with his hands in his pockets, looking gravely at the memorial stone.

"Ya, Obito…" he said, then he paused. What else could he say?

"Mm… I'll be gone for a while. Just a few months or so. Maybe I'll come back and visit sometime. Every so often…"

He turned to the other two names some lines below Obito.

"Rin, sensei… wish me luck, na? Not that I need it," he joked slightly, before the crinkling of his eyes faded. He wished he could have seen their reaction to his humour, which had been non-existent in his younger years. He blinked the thought away, gaze travelling upwards.

His eyes swept over a name that haunted his memory forever, before he closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer and thought.

_Otou-sama… I still don't know what to say to you…_

He turned and started walking towards the bridge, where his team would be meeting him

_Today_… Kakashi looked towards the sky blankly, listening to the rustling of the wind. Today's one will be…

_I got lost on the road of life… again_.

Senpai vs Sempai: I would just like to resolve this issue, just in case some one brings it up. From my understanding, both spellings are correct. Sempai is just a more… old fashioned way of saying it, I guess.

Any complaints, correction, constructive criticisms, cowing, crowing… (crocodile-ing…) and so on and so forth, well, I say… BRING IT ON!

_**Important**_: I need to know what everyone thinks on cross pairings. I want to try it, but apparently a lot of people object to it. What I think: I want to try it out. To me, any pairing is ok, as long as it works. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.

There will be no Kage Bunshins to guard, as I've decided that that idea is a tad overused. After all, what did I bring all the shinobi to Hogwarts for?

And lastly; this fic is more experimental than anything else. Of course, it's written to entertain, but it's more to broaden and test my writing. Please excuse if obvious- thanks.


End file.
